We chat to Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s managing director about being crazy well-travelled, hiring smart people and her crazy exercise.

She has a lot more to say on top of this, however, and you can hear that at this awesome forum thingy coming up in November.

Can you tell us a little about your career progression? How did you get your start in the travel industry?

I grew up travelling, I’m a Brit who was born in Germany and spent time growing up in the USA, UK, Germany and Saudi Arabia – so I was drawn from an early age to this fascinating world of travel because of my experiences growing up.

While at university in France I applied for an internship at the GDS Amadeus where I started my early career writing speeches for senior executives. I then moved into marketing and events, product management, supplier management and sales roles and from there into broader leadership roles.

I wanted to learn as much as I could about this incredible industry, so when opportunities came my way I was quick to say yes.

What would you say is your defining career achievement or the thing you are most proud of?

Just over 12 months ago I was asked to lead the CWT team in Australia and New Zealand.

I took over at a time when the company was experiencing a period of long standing instability. Since then my team and I have made significant progress and customer feedback and satisfaction rates are now higher than ever before.

I’m lucky I’m surrounded by some exceptional people who came on that journey, not just my leadership team and Lead30 (our top CWT executives in Australian and New Zealand), but also by our people who are talking to customers every single day. They are absolutely the reason I come to work every day and I am proud to work with each and every one of them.

What have been the biggest challenges to success you’ve encountered professionally?

There are many!

Every time I’m faced with one I have a mantra to ‘be comfortable being uncomfortable’. In my experience managing teams, males have more aptitude towards this than females who I think are more likely to wait until we can tick off 10 out of 10 job requirements before applying for a role, rather than saying ‘7 is probably ok, I’m going to go for it’.

Throughout my career I’ve made it a general rule to move towards fear, so when I’m faced with a challenge I embrace it – this includes my first speaking engagement in my 20’s to a room of 700 people; setting up a new business unit, or taking a role in Bangkok when I’d never even visited Asia.

Australia will now be the 9^th country I have lived and worked in. I’ve had several defining moments that took courage – but I’m a big believer that if you’re not a little bit challenged every day, you’re not learning. Try to make it a habit to constantly learn.

With the benefit of wisdom, what advice would you give your 21 y/o self when you were starting out in your career?

Don’t delay making tough decisions about your team and hire smart from the outset. Not that I haven’t always taken talent and decisions about people who work for me seriously, but earlier on in my career it was easy for talent management to be on a list of other important ‘to do’s’. I’ve learnt from that. Top of my agenda now is to hire and retain people who are diverse, passionate and, most importantly, smarter than I am.

I have that team now – they are the best in business. I listen very carefully to their perspectives every single day. It’s absolutely the most important thing I do and helps me to round out conclusions, stay open to different view points and be a better leader.

How would you describe your business/management style? What sorts of things are most important to you professionally?

I am really passionate about the people I work with, the customers we have at CWT and the industry. Passion is energy, and it is contagious. I like to think I have a good eye for people who are passionate to succeed, who have the same high values that I hold and who enjoy making a difference in the industry.

I’m also someone who is really comfortable with change and I think that’s more and more important in this industry which has become more complex, with more entrants, more providers, more sophisticated customer needs and technology advancing at the speed of light.

I try to encourage a constant feedback loop as well as giving the team a clear vision that, through all of the uncertainty gives the team a sense of what we stand for and where true north is.

Who are the people you admire most professionally or in any field / walk of life?

I have always admired what Steve Jobs was able to do by driving innovation in a highly competitive industry.

Not only did it change the face of that industry, but it redefined how we all think about experience and played a significant role in creating the experience economy. From when you open a new apple product, to chatting to the people running the genius bar in any apple store. It’s fascinating to feel the energy when you’re in a place like that. Our goal at CWT is to transform business travel into exactly that type of experience.

What do you do to unwind when you aren’t working? What is most important to you outside the office?

My family and friends are at the absolute heart of my life – whether that’s my partner and my outrageously naughty Labrador puppy (last seen eating a five year olds birthday cake), or my family back in the UK who I’m really close to. A good catch up with my nephews over facetime is the perfect start or end to any day.

For you, what’s the best aspect of working in the travel industry?

It’s clichéd, but the people. You can put a group of people from the travel industry in one room and literally not get a word in edgeways for the duration.

What one thing gets you through a stressful day?

I’m pretty active and so ‘unwinding’ for me tends to involve some kind of crazy exercise. Last year I ran a 250 km race in the Gobi Desert, now I’m training for a 10km swim in January. My mind is at its absolute clearest and calmest when I’m pushing myself in some way.

Lisa Akeroyd is one of the highly sought-after speakers we’re boasting at our Travel DAZE forum thingy we keep banging on about.

Moving swiftly up the ladder since she joined CWT in mid-2011 as global sales director, Akeroyd now leads the region with her new appointment as the company’s managing director after serving as vice-president, global program management, Asia Pacific based in Singapore previously.

To hear more about what she has to say, grab your tickets here.

The apocalypse is coming. Are you ready?

You can view the other ladies in this inspiring series here:

• Kim Portrate
• Ann Sherry
• Olivia Wirth
• Lisa Ronson
• Kaylene Shuttlewood
• Melanie Waters-Ryan
• Katrina Barry
• Lalie Ngozi
• Donna Meads-Barlow
• Rachel Argaman
• Judith Crompton
• Sandra Chipchase
• Mona Tannous
• Margy Osmond
• Sarah Clark